American Community Media National Briefing Notes

Medicaid Turns 60: The Reality of Losing Services

The attack on Medicaid needs serious attention from the public as the massive cuts will hurt many families who depend on their coverage. Imagine families and children who have been seeing their medical providers for their routine health check, getting referrals for further treatment or making a huge decision on medical procedures. This is not to mention the population with special needs whose day’s programming, specialized equipment and respite will be lessened if not taken away due to loss of Medicaid coverage.

Medicaid finances the delivery of primary and acute medical services as well as long-term services and supports (LTSS) to 96 million people at a cost to states and the federal government of $894 billion in FY2023. Medicaid eligibility generally has been limited to low-income children, pregnant women, parents of dependent children, individuals 65 years of age and older (i.e., aged), and individuals with disabilities (Congress.Gov).

This year, as we celebrate the 60 years of Medicaid, may we continue to advocate for our communities and families who are the very core of building a strong nation. Speak to your state representatives to halt express how you are affected by the Medicaid cuts. Work with other community resources to find ways to ensure that you continue healthy living.

In a briefing from the American Community Media (AcoM), Cary Sanders, Senior Policy Director, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, issued a statement that the history of Medicaid for 60 years now was founded as a civil rights area program to ensure that the government provides basic healthcare to poor people. She added that it is important to understand this history because of the attack to Medicaid and the civil rights.

The Crisis in Gaza: Feeding Gaza’s Children – When Starvation is a Moral Imperative

The most unimaginable happening in human experience is to go into war. The terror that it brings is a real crushing of spiritual and physical being in every second of it. Today, the war in Gaza is ongoing. While the population is being displaced, starvation is imminent. People and for the most part – children – are in greatest need of everything. More than any need, this war needs to stop – NOW!

With the blockade of food and information, the international community is unable to significantly do its job to help! Even the question of how we can help cannot be answered! The very limited information on what is truly happening inside Gaza, is the biggest problem that the world is facing. There is too much politics there, and the importance of human life is being ignored.

We call for peace, we pray for the children of Gaza, but we need to rally behind the end of war. Speak about this issue to anybody, as it may provide comfort for those who can only do so much.

The Wide-Reaching Impacts of Trump’s Tariffs Plan

There are still more positives than negatives when it comes to free trade. Ideally, people would prefer free trade. However, with the imposition of tariffs to more than 150 countries, Trump’s Tariffs Plan has created major changes in both national and global economy. Did we see any growth in our economy yet? Do we see a managed global trading and self-sufficiency among other countries?

What is really happening now in the US? Did the economy slow down? Was there any significant impact on unemployment? To an ordinary person, this is the time to really examine closely personal or household expenses. You may hold up on that vacation and focus on something that you can make money from. You may not make a car purchase when you still have one that is fully paid off and is still in great condition. Being smart is the name of the game.

For companies – big and small – the focus is really on maintaining the status quo. China and India who are the biggest exporters of goods and services, continue to evolve in global trading, with their economies, probably slowing down as well.

Here in the US, (USA Facts indicate that) there is not much of change at 4.2% rate of unemployment between July of 2024 and July of 2025. While others may say that the unemployment rate may have a delayed reaction due to high tariff imposition, the reality is that many companies are holding back on hiring. Most companies have no movement at all within their organization.

At the end of the day, the tariffs are going to continue as planned by Trump’s leadership. Where are we heading with this – we can only hope for something positive!

Redistricting Battles Erupt Ahead of Midterm Elections

US politics is just as hot as summer. There is no doubt that so much attention is given to redistricting in bigger states such as Texas and California. To put this simply, redistricting happens when the state is divided into congressional districts based on the number of populations it has. Redistricting is aimed at equalizing the population on the number of districts it should have. What does this mean to the voters and to the communities?

Gerrymandering

The most popular term in political debate right now is “gerrymandering.” What is it all about? When districts are created or formed to favor the interests of a certain party or group – is gerrymandering.

In Texas, the drawing of new districts has been approved by Governor Abbott. While others are not doubting that this will benefit the Republicans in the Lone Star State of Texas, Governor Newsom from California had expressed that it will counter Texas to increase the number of Democrats districts.

In a briefing with the American Community Media (AcoM), Texas Representative Gene Wu stated that “Republicans are solely to blame, because it is their policies and total blind of support to Donald Trump that is causing it. They know that their only way to survive is to cheat. Because the census says that we can only redistrict after we know of the population numbers.”

With other states such as Missouri, California and others are following to redistrict, Rep. Wu added, “If this is going to happen across the board, if every state, whether they are red of blue, if they do this every single time, after every election to make sure that they never lose  then politicians and leaders will never listen to the people.”